Essential Oils: An Essential Addition to Your Medicine Cabinet

With flu season upon us, and with the current "scare" of the swine flu, I make sure I'm stocked up on natural antibiotics.  Garlic and onions, herbal preparations such as echinacea and astragalus, vitamins such as Vitamin C, and essential oils are all things I utilize to help heal my family whenever sickness occurs.  While there are hundreds of essential oils, there are just a handful that I've come to really rely on.

What are essential oils?

Wikipedia says "An essential oil is a concentrated, hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants." In simpler terms it is the concentrated essence of various plant materials - the petals, leaves, stem, etc. may be used, depending on the plant - which are highly therapeutic.  While chemical formulas may mimic the smell of essential oils, they will not contain the therapeutic and healing benefits of true essential oils.  Most essential oils are obtained through steam distillation.  Steam is used to cook the plant materials, which breaks it down and causes it to release the essential essence.  The steam containing the essence is then cooled, the oil is separated from the water and bottled and is now an "essential oil".

How are essential oils used?

Essential oils can be used in many ways.  They can be used in aromatherapy, in which the oils are diffused into the air.  A few drops can be added to one's bath water or mixed with a carrier oil and messaged into the skin.  A compress can be made by mixing 4 to 5 drops of an essential oil to water, either hot or cold depending on the need.  Dip a cloth into this water and squeeze out the excess, then apply it to the area.  You can even put a few drops into your shampoo or conditioner to nourish your hair and scalp.  I have mixed essential oils of peppermint and eucalyptus with steaming hot water, covered the bowl and my head with a towel and breathed in the steam to treat a sinus infection or clear a congested chest.

Very few oils can be applied neat, which means directly to the skin, because they are very strong and can cause irritation.  When in doubt, dilute!  Lavender EO is really the only one I know of at present that can be applied neat without fear of concern.  

 

So which oils do I use?

Eucalyptus Globulus - The oil I use the most is Eucalyptus. This one also just happens to be the least expensive.  It is excellent for healing when one has a cold or cough.  I put drops on my children's pillows so they can breath in the fumes while they sleep.  I also mix it with a carrier oil, usually jojoba, and rub in on their chest and the bottom of their feet.  I've almost replaced my use of garlic with eucalyptus for sickness.  Be sure to look for Eucalyptus Globulus and not eucalyptus radiata or eucalyptus polybractea.  Eucalyptus Globulus breaks up mucus and helps it to be expelled from the body. It is antibacterial, antiviral, antimicrobial, antifungal, and is an antiseptic.

Lavender Angustifolia - Lavender is a calming oil.  I use it for headaches and it also helps with pain.  I've read of mothers applying it to the jawline of a teething baby to reduce the pain and calm the child.  One of my daughters got a migraine when she was about 8 years old.  Her head hurt so much that she threw up and couldn't stop crying.  I rubbed Lavender EO onto her temples and forehead and massaged some into the bottom of her feet.  Within about 15 minutes she had stopped crying and fallen asleep!  I have also used lavender for menstrual cramps.  Mixed with a carrier oil and rubbed onto the abdomen it brings much relief.  Lavender is good for anxiety.  It is great for burns and actually helps speed up wound healing and tissue regeneration.  

Rosemary -  Rosemary is another great oil for a headache.  It also promotes hair growth, regulates seborrhea and reduces stress.  It increases circulation to the area, bringing healing and reducing inflammation.  By working on the central nervous system rosemary helps boost memory and mental clarity while also relieving depression because of it's energizing and stimulating effect on the body.  Rosemary is anti-parasitical, antibacterial and antiviral.

Grapefruit - Grapefruit essential oil is just plain fun.  This stuff smells fabulous. Just smelling it straight from the bottle will give you a lift.  You can add a drop to a quart of water to drink.  It makes the water taste wonderful and it actually helps stimulate the lymph system and clear fat and cellulite from the body.  Grapefruit EO is a diuretic, an antidepressant, an antiseptic, and a lymph stimulant. **A caution with this one though, just as those on medication can't eat grapefruit or drink it's juice, the same goes with the essential oil.  So avoid this one if you are on medication.

I have also made a blend commonly called Thieves Oil using equal amounts of eucalyptus, rosemary, cinnamon, clove and lemon and mixed with a carrier oil.  When one of my daughters had some sores on her legs that wouldn't heal with the all the normal remedies one uses on cuts and such, I began applying this blend to her legs every night and within about a week the sores were completely cleared up and there was even no scarring, even though she had scratched and picked at the sores until they would bleed.

There is pretty much an oil for whatever ails you!  I think of essential oils as little gifts God hid in his creation just waiting for man to discover them.  

Sources for essential oils:

I buy my oils from my health food store.  The brand is http://www.auracacia.com/.  I have also seen this brand for sale in H.E.B.'s vitamin section.

Other places to look include: 

  Rose Mountain Herbs
 Young Living EO

A book I highly recommend for EO information is Encyclopedia of Essential Oils by Julia Lawless.